I don't know get how the hell people pay for houses. They are all listed between 300 and 700k in my area and I honestly... don't get it. My GF and I make a combined ~130k right now and saving ~50k for a down payment seems hilariously farfetched. Between school loans, cars, rent, gas, food, vacations etc... I feel like we'd need to be 1%'ers to buy a decent home.
I guess you just eat ramen, do nothing and put in every extra cent you have into a savings account for 5 years and then maybe you can afford a 2 bedroom in the ghetto.
Maybe I'm just being discouraged by north jersey prices...
Yep unfortunately if you want to be a homeowner in a good town in North Jersey you have to be within spitting distance of a 1%'er.
Honestly with that income just rent and try be frugal where you can. When you factor in the high closing costs, the property taxes, the interest on the crazy big loans, your lost-equity per month is going to be damn close to renting.
My wife and I stayed in a shithole apartment for 5 years and I was a hardass on the budget to get us to be home owners in North Jersey. If it wasn't for appreciation we'd probably be losing money compared to renting when you factor in closing costs. However the happiness of the wife to be out of the shithole apartment and in a nice home is worth it.